Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

CCS Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway
December 7, 2003

Eric Wood Dominates Homestead

By Lisa Theobald

Penguin Racing School’s Eric Wood dominated at Homestead-Miami Speedway on his GSX-R1000 during the CCS Florida Region 2003 grand finale. Wood won all three of his races after working his way through traffic to get to the front of the field in the GTO, Unlimited Supersport and Unlimited Grand Prix Expert events. “I was a little bit of a ways back and I just tried to put my head down and pick them off one by one,” Wood said after the Unlimited Grand Prix race. “Several were a bit tough.”

This event marked the first time a race was run on the infield course of the track since the banking was widened and the entire oval portion of the track resurfaced. Because of the surface changes, the transition from the back straight to the infield course in turn 10 caused the concern for race officials. Race promoter Henry DeGouw and Penguin Racing School officials met early on Thursday, prior to the weekend event, to set up cones and brake markers to guide the racers through the best possible line into the infield. The resulting low line was a safe, smooth entrance with only a mild dip at the transition from new to old asphalt.

Florida racer Jim Pihokken secured the Regional Number One plate for the 2004 season, beating out contender Alex Ferreira. Pihokken entered the event with a 218-point gap over Ferreira, which closed up to a mere 80-point lead at Ferreira’s final race of the day, Lightweight Supersport. Pihokken was presented with the 2004 Number One plate by this year’s plate holder, Darren Luck.

Pihokken chalked the whole thing up to consistency and said, “I don’t know that I really deserve this thing. I not one of these dominant Champions like Shane Prieto or Marco Martinez. My goal this year was just to win one regional Championship, Heavyweight Superbike. By the middle of the year, I was leading in the points and was flabbergasted. I don’t think this has been done in a long time by a guy with one bike. So really, there was nobody going after it, so I kind of lucked into it.”